Teen Mom NYC

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Wednesday, September 12, 2018

If you are wanting to write about your experiences as a young parent Teen Mom NYC wants to hear from you!

I started Teen Mom NYC as a place to share my experiences of becoming pregnant and a parents at the age of 15, share the experiences of other pregnant and parenting young people, and share helpful resources for pregnant and parenting young people. Never did I imagine that starting this space would open up so many doors and opportunities for me.

Through creating this platform I have had the opportunity to write for other publications like Huffington Post, ReWire News, AlJazeera America, and many others. I've been able to connect with amazing organizations like the National Women's Law Center, Forward Together, Advocates for Youth, National Latina Institue for Reproductive Health, and several others. I've planned and hosted two events for pregnant and parenting young people, spoken at schools and conferences, and hosted giveaways. All because of this platform.

All of these things are beautiful and changed my life. However, I'm no longer a teen parent myself. I've grown in age and feel strange writing about the lives of pregnant and parenting young people today because that is no longer my experience today. After thinking about it I know that opening this space up for other pregnant and parenting young people to share their experiences, write about topics they're passionate about, and possibly have this space open up doors of opportunity for them is what I want to do with Teen Mom NYC.

If you are 21 or younger and a parent and are interested in writing for the site in any way please fill out the form below

If you know a pregnant and or parenting young person under the age of 21 that you feel would like to write for the site please have them fill out the form below

I look forward to seeing your information.

Please note: Teen Mom NYC is a one person site so it may take more than a week for me to get back to you however I WILL get back to you.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Lauren Cole is a woman who knows that supporting families headed by teen parents is the best thing you can do for them to be able to thrive. She is the Founder of Her Future, a Chicago based non profit organization that provides programming, support, and opportunities to pregnant and parenting young people.

One way this is done is through their annual luncheon where one teen mother is given a financial scholarship. Lauren believes in teenage mothers and the mission of helping them help themselves so much that she often times pays for all things out of pocket. This year Her Future is running a fundraiser by selling t-shirts.

When I Asked Cole what resilient meant to her and why she choose to include it on the t-shirt she said,

"Resiliency is something that anyone who has dealt with difficulties and bounced back from them has. Our t-shirts give you an opportunity to display your Resilience while supporting an organization that empowers teen moms."

Cole goes on to say,

"The support we give to teen moms is important because we need all mothers to feel supported and to know that they have the tools they need to parent well. We have a lot of programs that teach abstinence but we need more that teach safe sex and what to do if you do become pregnant. That's what Her Future does."

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

It's outrageous and makes getting around the city even more inaccessible for people who need it.

About a month ago I remembered that not too long ago Leilani and I would walk for blocks and blocks because I didn't have enough money on my metro card to swipe us to get to where we were going AND a swipe to get home.

As I walked down a stretch of blocks today I realized that I was walking these extra blocks by choice. A few short years ago Leilani and I were walking them out of necessity because I only had one more swipe left on my card.

I'm talking BLOCKS sometimes 30 or more.

The truth is that not I am very fortunate to no longer HAVE to do this and realized that while I could get mad and do nothing that I would instead get mad and do something about it.

From now until September I will be giving away ONE unlimited weekly metro card a month to a mother 20 and younger in need of one.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Photos of early times in Leilani's life and my pregnancy don't exist too much for a variety of reasons but mostly because of the shame and stigma surrounding my pregnancy and parenting at 15 years old. For this very reason I LOVE how elaborate and creative teen mama, Isabel Moutran, is with these monthly photoshoots of her beautiful baby girl.

Seeing this young mama take amazing and gorgeous photos and memories of her daughter makes me so happy especially because as teen/young moms we are meant to feel ashamed of our motherhood.

With over 5K followers on Instagram it's easy to see why so many people follow this creative and loving young family.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Going to school as a parent is HARD and almost impossible when you do not have any leads on childcare. Thankfully some CUNY schools offer onsite childcare facilities for students who are enrolled and taking classes.

While I was at Baruch I used the onsite childcare for a few weeks while I worked on a long term solution for Leilani.

Below are all the current CUNY schools that offer childcare facilities on or near the campus so that going to school while parenting is a little less hard and impossible.

Please be advised that some charge a fee, all have different age requirements, and all have different hours. Feel free to use the image below to kick off your search.

Hopefully the information below can help you make a decision about where and what CUNY school you want to go to.